Shelf with supporting pins



May s, 1962 H. EASTMAN SHELF WITH SUPPORTING PINS Filed Jan. 21, 1960 BY M M CMM,

ATTORNEYS Stats arent 3,033,376 Patented May S, 1962 3,033,376 n SHELF WITH SUPPORTING PINS Harold Eastman, 6 Joel Place, Port Washington, N.Y. Filed Jan. 21, 1960, Ser. No. 3,920 4 Claims. (Cl. 211-90) This invention relates to shelves which are mounted in a corner of a room where two sides of the wall meet in an inside corner. The invention relates more especiall'y to shelves constructed with pins that can be projected into the wall, to attach the shelf to the wall, by striking the end of a slide projecting from the front of the shelf.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved shelf for mounting at an inside corner of a wall of a room. It is another object of the invention to provide a shelf of the type shown in my Patent No. 2,389,349, dated November 20, 1945, and to construct the shelf so that it is simpler to manufacture and can be used equally well in corners where the plaster or other material of the wall is uneven.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shelf, of the character indicated, which can be made from two identical molded shells that iit together and that have complementary recesses providing bearings for pins and for a slide that serves as cam means for projecting the pins into the walls to which the shelf is to be connected.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear or be pointed out as the description proceeds.

In the drawing, forming a part hereof, in which like reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all the Views:

FIGURE l is a top plan view, partly broken away and in section, showing a shelf made in accordance with this invention and secured to an inside corner of a wall of a room;

of the contact areas 22 and 24, converge toward one another at an angle somewhat greater than a right angle. This leaves a clearance, indicated by the reference character 32, between the sides of the shelf 1% `and the sides 26 and 28 of the wall to which the shelf is to be connected. It also leaves a Vclearance between a rearward region 36 of the shelf and the vertex 36 of the corner of the wall.

In order to have the `contact areas 22 and 24 always contact with the sides 26 and 2? of the wall, regardless of irregularities in the plaster, the sides 16 and 17 are also constructed so as to have a clearance forward of the contact areas 22 and 24. Thus the side walls 16 and 17 of the shelf, in front of the contact areas 22,v and 24, slope away from the sides of the wall. This means that these forward portions of the side walls 16 and 17', ahead of the contact areas 22 and 26, converge yas they extendY rearwardly from the front wall 15 at an angle less than 'a right angle.

The shelf it) is attached to the wall of the room by pins 41, 42 and 43. The pins d1 and 42 are projected from the sides of the shelf 1i) through 'openings 46 in the contact areas 22 and 24; and the pin 43 is thrust outward from the shelf 10 through an opening in the rearward region 36 of the shelf and along the bisector of the angle at which the sides 26 and 28 of the wall meet.

' Actually the pin 43 projects along the bisector of the di- FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary detail View showing a porv tion of the mechanism of FIGURE l before the slide is operated to project the pins from the sides of the shelf;

FIGURES 3, 4 and 5 are fragmentary, enlarged, sectional views taken on the lines 3-3, 4 4 and 5--5, respectively, of FIGURE l.

FIGURE l shows a shelf 1t) which is made with an upper shell 12 and a lower shell 13. These shells are preferably of identical construction. Each shell has a front wall 15 (best shown in FIGURE 4) Vand side walls 16 and 17. These walls 15, 16 and 17 preferably form a substantially continuous rim around the sides of the shells 12 and 13 so that when the shells are bonded together along a joint line 20, the shelf has a substantial thickness and appears as a solid body.

Along the side walls 16, the shelf has a contact area 22, half of which is on the upper shell 12 and the other half of which is on the lower s'hell 13. This contact area 22 is similar to a boss on a casting or molding. A similar Contact area 24 is formed on the other side wall 17 of the shelf. The surfaces of the contact areas 22 and 24 preferably lie in planes which are normal to one another.

These contact areas 22 and 24 bear against two sides 26 and 28 of a wall corner into which the shelf 10 is placed. The sides 26 and 28 of the wall of the room meet in an inside corner at a vertex 30; but in the construction of plaster walls, the most common type of wall used in houses, these sides 26 and 2S are seldom true planes and they seldom meet in an accurate right angle.

In order to make the shelf 10 suitable for use in any room, regardless of whether theA sides of the wall meet in an accurate right angle, the sides of the shelf, rearward hedral angle formed by the planes v/hich are defined by the contact areas 22 and 24, but this plane is generally coincident with the angle formed by the sides 26 and 2S of the wall, after making allowances for the irregularities in the wall surfaces, previously referred to.

FIGURE 1 shows the shelf 10 attached to the sides 26 and 28 of the wall. The pins 41 and 42 project into portions of the wall with which contact areas 22 and 24 are in direct Contact; and the pin 43 is projected far enough beyond the rearward region 36 of the shelf to pass across the clearance between the shelf and the corner of the wall and into the plaster or other material of which the wall is made.

The pin 41 extends through an opening 46 in the side wall 16. This opening is formed by semi-cylindrical recesses in the bottom of the side wall of the upper shell 12 and in the top of the side wall of the lower shell 13. These semi-cylindrical recesses register with one another in the assembled shelf and provide the opening 46 through which the pin 41 extends. The pin 41 is free sliding pin in the opening 46. The wall 16 is made thicker at the regions where the pin 41 extends through it so as to provide a substantial length of bearing surface for the pin 41.

There are bosses 48 extending from the upper and lower surfaces of the shells 12 and 13, respectively, for providing bearing surfaces at other locations along the length of the pin 41. As in the case of the wall 16, the projections 4S have semi-cylindrical recesses which form an opening of circular cross-section for the pin 41 when the upper and lower shells of the shelf are assembled. The portions of the projections 48 on opposite sides of the opening, through which the pin passes, Contact with one another and are preferably bonded together to 'give extra strength to the shelf.

The shelf has means urging the pin 41 into retracted position. In the construction illustrated, this means includes a compression spring 5t) which surrounds the pin 41 and which is compressed between the inside surface of the wall 16 and a projection S4 extending from the 3 sides of the pin 41. The projection 54 is preferably made by flattening the pin 41 so as to increase its width in one direction, but other ways of holding the spring can be used such as a collar on the pin.

It will be understood that the other pins 42 and 43 which extend through openings in the side wall 17 and in the rearward region 36, respectively, slide in bearings similar to those already described for the pin 4l, and these other pins have springs 50 urging them inwardly, the construction being the same as with the pins 41, already described.

The shelf contains cam means for projecting the pins 41, 42 and 43 from the sides of the shelf when the shelf is to be attached to a wall. The cam means include a slide S6 located in a socket formed by inside partitions 58 (FIGURE 5) which are preferably of one-piece construction with the top and bottom shells of the shelf. There is an end wall 60 at the rearward end of the socket in which the slide 56 moves. A forward end portion 62, of the slide 56, extends through a slot 63 in the front wall of the shelf.

In its original condition, the shelf l() has its slide 56 in a forwardly extending position, as shown in dotted lines in FIGURE l and as shown in full lines in FIG- URE 2. The slide 56 is held in this forwardly extending position by the pressure of the spring 50 which surrounds the pin 43, since this pin bears directly against the rearward end of the slide 56. The other two pins 41 and 42 extend into sloping notches 64 in opposite side faces of the slide 56.

When the shelf 10 is to be attached to a wall, it is first moved into the location where it is to be attached, and then the forward end of the slide 56 is struck with a hammer, or other instrument, to push the slide 56 rearwardly from the dotted line position to the full line position shown in FIGURE l.

This movement of the slide 56 pushes the pin 43 directly toward the rear of the shelf; and the side walls of the sloping notches 64 push the pins 41 and 42 outwardly with a cam action until these pins are spaced by the width of the slide 56, after which the slide 56 continues to move independently of the pins 41 and 42. This provides a longer stroke for the pin 43, as compared t0 the stroke of the pins 41 and 43.

The inward movement of the slide 56 is limited by the end wall 60 of the socket; and the slide 56 is of such length that its rearward end strikes against the wall 60 of the socket, to stop further inward movement of the slide, before the forward end of the slide comes flush with the front wall of the shelf. This serves two purposes. One is that it prevents the hammer, which is used to drive the slide 56 inwardly, from striking the front face of the shelf 10. vIt also leaves a length of the slide 56 exposed at the front of the shelf so that if it ever becomes desirable to take the shelf down, the slide 56 can be gripped with a tool and can be pulled back into the original position. This will not retract the pins 41, 42 and 43 from the wall, because they are firmly held by friction, but it will permit the pins to be retracted by the springs 50 if the shelf is then wobbled so as to loosen the pins from the wall.

Referring again to FIGURE 2, it will be apparent that the pins 41 and 42 bear against the rearward faces of the sloping notches 64 and prevent the slide 56 from being pulled forward out of the shelf. This holds the slide in its assembled relation with the shelf before the shelf is attached to a wall.

By making the projections 54 (FIGURE 3) of the pins 41 and 42 s0 that the projections 54 strike against the projections 48 of the shelf, to stop further inward movement of the pins 41 and 42, before they can move far enough for their ends to strike each other when the slide 56 is not present in the shelf, it becomes practical to assemble the slide and the shelf after the shells have been connected together with the pins 41, 42 and 43 in place.

The slide 56 has sloping corners at its rearward end which act as cam surfaces to push the pins 41 and 42 away from one another to admit the slide between them during the initial assembly of the shelf and slide.

The shelf of this invention can be made of various kinds of material, but the construction illustrated and described is particularly adapted to be made from plastic moldings. Embodiment of the invention can also be made of solid material such as wood with the necessary recesses to accommodate the pins and springs and slide. Some embodiments of the invention can be 'made without the springs and with friction relied upon to hold the pins in retracted position when the slide is being shipped or handled preparatory to connecting it with a wall.

The shells of the shelf can be made of acetate and bonded together with acetone. They may also be made of styrene, either low or high impact, and bonded together with toluene. These are merely illustrative of the kind of material that can be used and are not intended in any limiting sense.

The material of which the shelf is constructed should be stiff so that the shelf does not sag when loaded; but it should be malleable as contrasted with a brittle material so that there is no danger of breaking it if it is accidently dropped or if it should be struck on the end face with a hammer accidently while attaching it to a wall.

The preferred embodiment has been illustrated and described, but changes and modifications can be made, and some features can be used in different combinations without departing from the invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A shelf for locating at an inside corner of the wall, said shelf including a body having two side walls and a front wall, the side walls having contact areas at fixed locations thereon and in planes substantially normal to one another, pins within the shelf including a separate pin extending through an opening in each of the contact areas and another pin extendable through an opening in the rearward region of the shelf in the direction of the bisector of the angle of the planes of the contact areas, cam means within the shelf and movable rearwardly to thrust the pins outwardly beyond the limits of the shelf and into the sides and vertex of a corner of a wall in which the shelf is to be located, springs in the shelf associated with the pins and urging the pins toward retracted positions, and in which the body of the shelf is made of upper and lower halves, each of which includes edge portions that fit together to form the walls of the shelf, and each of which has semi-cylindrical grooves that register with one another to form the openings for the pins and the bearings for the pins.

2. The shelf described in claim l and in which the upper and lower halves of the body of the shelf are of identical construction and they are bonded together at areas of their confronting surfaces that contact with one another when the upper and lower halves of the body of the shelf are in assembled relation with one another.

3. The shelf described in claim 2 and in which the shelf is constructed of plastic material which is rigid but malleable.

4. A shelf for locating at an inside corner of a wall, said shelf including a body having two side walls and a front wall, the side walls having areas that contact with a wall to which the shelf is to be connected, pins within the shelf including a separate pin extendable through an opening in each of the contact areas and another pin extendable through an opening in the rearward region of the shelf in the direction of the bisector of the angle of the corner of the Wall, cam means within the shelf and movable rearwardly to thrust the pins outwardly beyond the limits of the shelf, the cam means including a slide extending through an opening in the front wall of the shelf, and a socket in the shelf providaoasve ing a bearing in which the slide is movable, the socket having a rearward end Wall that serves as an abutment to limit the extent to which the slide can be forced rearwardly, and thereby limit the extent to which the pins are thrust outwardly by the cam means, and in which the slide, when in its most rearward position, is long enough to leave an extending portion of substantial length beyond the front face of the shelf for gripping the slide with a tool to retract it, and springs on the pins for re- References Cited in the tile of this patent tracting them when the cam means are pulled back by 10 2,828,044

retraction of the slide.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Hollander Apr. 21, 1914 Stevens July 18, 1916 Brinkmann July 14, 1942 Eastman Nov. 20, 1945 Gonda July 13, 1948 Barattella Mar. 13, 1951 Reiss Mar. 25, 1958 

